Jersey Crusaders
Jersey Crusaders ('ジャージー クルセイダーズ', Jājī Kuruseidāzu) is an upcoming Japanese-American mecha anime television series and mixed-media franchise created by Aaron Montalvo and produced by Hollowfox Entertainment and Production I.G. with Wit Studio, AkaKen and IG Zwei as animation production facilites. This is the first original anime series from Hollowfox Entertainment in years since Koga & Naga and is considered a spiritual successor to both Production I.G and Hollowfox titles, let alone being a spiritual successor to the former's Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne and the latter's Harmony Unleashed: Jaegermeisters in terms of having tone, crew and story. The series will start in September 27, 2019 (sub) and October 4, 2019 (dub) in Japan on TV Tokyo, AT-X and its affiliates and will have a simulcast release in North America on HCN+ at the launch date. About the Show In 2016, Montalvo considered making another Jaegermeisters series, however he dropped it to focus on the current Harmony Unleashed projects. However, he is open to make a spiritual installment to it with the same staff behind Lagrange and Attack on Titan, which are co-operated from Production I.G. Later on, the series is in development with Montalvo involved as an executive producer, chief storyteller and concept design. In 2018, Wit Studio and Xebec were involved in the production with AkaKen (fka Ivannimation Samurai Studios) and Production I.G. developing the series in co-operation with the studios. Netflix is co-financing and providing worldwide streaming rights due to the partnership with HolCom and Hollowfox. In 2019, After I.G. Port is set to transfer Xebec to Sunrise due to monetary reasons, the series' first season is close to being finished and it led to problems. However, due to I.G.'s involvement and XEBECzwei transferred to Production I.G. under the name IG Zwei, it will join Wit Studio and the first season's animation is done. While Montalvo is in charge of story and concept, Naoyoshi Shiotani (Psycho-Pass, Blood-C: The Last Dark) is the chief director, Character and mecha concept designs will be provided by Chinatsu Kurahana (Aquarion Evol, Samurai Flamenco) and Yoji Shinkawa (Metal Gear Solid, Left Alive). The writing team will be Yuya Takahashi (Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, Tiger & Bunny), Yuichi Nomura (Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne, AICO Incarnation), Junichi Fujisaku (Blood+, Atom: The Beginning) and the writing duo of Eiji Umehara and Aya Takaha (Pokemon: The Power of Us). Consulting the writing to seem a little western-influenced, Montalvo, Benjamin Townsend (Monsuno, Bravest Warriors), Josh Hamilton (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Voltron: Legendary Defender) and Brandon Auman (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Wars: Resistance) are involved. Kyoji Asano (Attack on Titan, Star Fox Zero: The Battle Begins) will be the director of the series and is an animation supervisor and will join Chizuru Kobayashi (Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne) and Takumo Norita (Broken Blade) as character designer. Chief Animation Directors will be Keita Nagahara (Pokemon: The Power of Us) and Satoshi Kadowaki (Attack on Titan, Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign) with Takuya Matsubara (Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne) as Chief Mecha Animation Director and Animation Mecha Design adapting Shinkawa's design with Atsushi Takeuchi (Mass Effect: Paragon Lost, Guilty Crown). Story In the year 2031 in Union Jersey City, Giant Robots improve the facts of life with transportation and construction. It could be either be for the necessary things in life, or just people riding them to do whatever they want. It's a utopia for the whole universe that it could be shared with any country. Scott Ryder, a big fan of giant robots and college graduate, wishes he could travel places on a giant robot, has been assigned on a job at Mirren's, which is a specialty for giant mecha robots. While he reunites with his high school friend and current employee, Aaliyah Morgan and meets a robot enthusiast and mechanic supervisor, Mr. Mirren, he will have a decent time at work to fix giant robots. Until one day, when an opportunity for both Scott and Aaliyah to pilot a giant robot for the very first time has come, the robot they pilot became sentient with its movements, feelings, and motives that led to an unusual and yet satisfying bond between two individuals that will strengthen a robot's way of energetic life. That is leading to its potential, gaining Allan Joneson's interest to see itself on the press, but a price must be paid. Characters Episodes The series is planned for 26 episodes. The first thirteen episodes will stream to Netflix weeks after the first part has been done, and it's through a deal with HolCom Networks since it's involved alongside Netflix due to their partnership in 2016. The series will run simultaneously on the same day as Japan on HCN+ with the Japanese dub to stream before the English dub hits HCN+ a week later. Montalvo has announced that Funimation has licensed the home video rights to the series in North America and United Kingdom (right after Funimation bought Manga Entertainment UK). International Airings *Japan - TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi, BS Japan, AT-X *United States **Streaming: HCN+, Netflix **Television: Nippon Spirits Network (SushiChromix) *Canada - Chromix Network Other Media Manga Manga is in the works at Shueisha and published on the Ultra Jump Magazine. With Montalvo as supervisor, the manga is written by Yuichi Nomura and illustrated by Shion Mizuki. It is licensed by Viz Media and will be published through the Shonen Jump imprint. Info *Written by: Yuichi Nomura *Illustrated by: Shion Mizuki *Published by: Shueisha *English version published by: Viz Media (North America) *Demographic: Seinen *Magazine: Ultra Jump Music *Music by: Makoto Miyazaki, Yutaka Yamada *Music Production: Aniplex, TV Tokyo Music Opening Theme * Voyage by Eir Aoi (Eps. 1-13) Ending Theme * Invincible by Amine (Eps. 1-13) Staff *Original Work: Hollowfox Entertainment x Production I.G. *Original Story, Concept Design and Executive Producer: Aaron Montalvo *Planning: **Yutaro Ikegaya **Mitsuhisa Ishikawa **George Wada **Kenji Hamada **Satoshi Oshita **Takayuki Hirobe (TV Tokyo) **Yosuke Imai **Yoshitaka Hashimoto *Executive Producer: **George Wada **Yukinao Shimoji **Katsuji Morishita **Maki Terashima-Furuta **Hayato Saga **Shunji Aoki **Kaata Sakamoto (Netflix) *Chief Director: Naoyoshi Shiotani *Directorial Supervisor: Itsuro Kawasaki *Director, Animation Supervisor & Sub-Character Designer: Kyoji Asano *Story Editor: Yuya Takahashi *Character Concept Design: Chinatsu Kurahana *Animation Character Design: Chizuru Kobayashi & Takumo Norita *Chief Animation Directors: Satoshi Kadowaki, Keita Nagahara, Makoto Oda, Yuichi Oka *Key Animator: Takuma Ebisu, Hideki Sakai *Mecha Concept Design: Yoji Shinkawa *Mecha Animation Design: Takuya Matsubara, Atsushi Takeuchi *Mecha Animation Director: Takuya Matsubara *Art Director: Michie Watanabe *Color Design: Izumi Hirose *Director of Photography: Atsuho Matsumoto *Editor: Yoshinori Murakami *3DCG Director: Shuhei Yabuta *3DCG Supervisor: Eiji Inomoto *3DCG Production: Orange *Sound Director: Shoji Hata *Sound Effects: Yasuyuki Konno *Music: Makoto Miyazaki & Yutaka Yamada *Music Production: Aniplex *Music Production Producer: Hiroaki Sano (Sony Music Entertainment Japan) *Music Production Co-operation: TV Tokyo Music *Producers: **Toru Kawaguchi **Naomi Komatsu **Masahiro Sugasawa (TV Tokyo) **Sota Saito **Yosuke Futami **Chinatsu Matsui *Animation Producer: Maiko Okada (Wit Studio), Takatoshi Chino (IG Zwei) *Production Supervisor: Tetsuya Nakatake (Wit Studio), Takumi Kusakabe (IG Zwei) *Animation Production: Wit Studio x IG Zwei *Animation Production Co-operation: Production I.G. x AkaKen *In Association With: Netflix & HolCom Networks *Production: Jersey Crusaders Production Committee **Hollowfox Entertainment **Production I.G. **Bandai Namco Arts **Bandai Namco Entertainment **Bushiroad **Shueisha **Dentsu **TV Tokyo English Dub Staff *Licensed by: Hollowfox Entertainment *License Co-operated by: Funimation (US/UK, Home Video Release) *In Association With: Bang Zoom! Entertainment *Executive Producer: Aaron Montalvo, Yuma Sakata *Producer: Eric P. Sherman, Kaeko Sakamoto *Line Producer: Brian Ash *Script & Story Supervisor (both versions): **Brandon Auman **Aaron Montalvo **Benjamin Townsend **Josh Hamilton *Voice Director: **Jamie Thomason **Ezra Weisz *Casting Director/Co-Producer: Mami Okada *Associate Producer: Mio Moroe *Production Executive: Jonathan Sherman *Sound Supervisor: Patrick Rodman, CAS *Recording Engineer/Dialogue Editor: Benjamin Harrington *Assistant Engineers: Eric Raichelson *Production Managers: **AJ Gam **Risa Koitabashi *Production Coordinators: **Megumi Kunisada **Cheri Crisostomo *Production Assistant: Risa Koitabashi *Spotting: Clark Cheng Category:Franchise Category:Series